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Sponsor a Day!
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On an average day, the cost of operating the Museum is greater than income from fees, membership and store sales.
For a $250 donation, you may personally sponsor a day at the Museum.
"Sponsor A Day" is a wonderful way to honor a loved one or recognize a birthday, anniversary or a memory!
As a Sponsor, you will be recognized at all three Museum locations, on our web site and in the Museum newsletter. You will also receive a support decal for your car window or business entry.
To select your date, contact us at 920-743-5958.
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Tug Now Open!
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| The tug John Purves is now open for tours on Saturdays and Sundays. The tug's full seven-day-a-week schedule will begin on May 1. |
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DCMM Calendar
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5/1: Tug John Purves now open seven days a week
5/21: "Ghosts!" opens to DCMM membership
5/22: "Ghosts!" opens to general public
6/11: Keeper's Kin Social
6/11-13: Door County Lighthouse Festival Weekend
6/25: Ports of Call Gala
10/14-21: Fall Bus Tour
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Visit DCMM
| The Door County Maritime Museum is located at 120 N.
Madison Avenue in Sturgeon Bay, on the West Side waterfront between the two downtown
bridges. Adult admission is $7.50 to the Museum and $5 to the tug. For
more information, call 920-743-5958, send email to info@dcmm.org or visit www.dcmm.org. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.
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Greetings!
 Believe it or not, summer is just around the corner, so we have a lot to talk about in this issue of our e-newsletter!
Tours are filling up fast for the Door County Lighthouse Festival on June 11-13, so now is a great time to secure your reservations for one of our unique lighthouse tours. See the article below for more information about the festival, the available tours and how to obtain guide books and festival tickets.
Now is also a wonderful time to purchase raffle tickets for our annual Ports of Call Gala. One winner will receive a sailing passage from Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay aboard a famous tall ship, while another will take home a beautiful wooden Nutshell Pram. The winners will be announced at the June 25 gala event.
In this issue, we're also providing a sneak peek at our upcoming "Ghosts! Haunted Lighthouses of the Great Lakes" exhibit, and we're offering information about how you can help the Museum through volunteering or even by "sponsoring a day."
Finally, we have details about our fall bus tour to famous maritime history sites in Ohio and on the U.S. East Coast. Not that we want to rush through summer, but we're already accepting reservations for this exceptional opportunity to explore Cleveland, Ohio; New London and Mystic Seaport, Connecticut; Boston; and New York City. Tour space is limited, so check your calendars and see if you can join us on this one-of-a-kind adventure!
As always, there's a lot happening at the Museum. We look forward to seeing you in our galleries, at the upcoming Lighthouse Festival and Ports of Call Gala, and on our special fall tour. Until then...
Wishing you fair winds and calm seas,
Bob Desh
Executive Director
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"Lighthouses of Door County" by Donna Elias
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Lighthouse Festival Tickets Now on Sale:
First 500 Orders Get Free Pocket Guide!
The Door County Maritime Museum has officially opened ticket sales for the 2010 Door County Lighthouse Festival, scheduled for June 11-13. As always, the lighthouses are the focal point of the weekend. The Festival encompasses a variety of intriguing tour packages that include some traditional favorites, a first-of-its-kind journey and the long-awaited return of another tour.
The Museum staff is
encouraging enthusiasts to secure their reservations early to the 17th
annual event, previously known as the Lighthouse Walk. According to Bob Desh, DCMM's executive director, the most popular boat tours tend to sell out quickly.
"Plus, as a special bonus, the first 500 orders will receive a copy of Lucy Hanley's pocket guide book, Lighthouses of Door County, to enrich their chosen tour packages," he advised.
In years past, the Lighthouse Walk featured a comprehensive ticket including admission to the five mainland lighthouses. This year, the three mainland lighthouses that charge admission will maintain their regular hours and fees. The Sherwood Point Lighthouse and Canal Station light in Sturgeon Bay, which are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, will offer free admission; as always, free-will donations are greatly appreciated. Sherwood Point is a particular favorite, since it is only open to the public during this one weekend a year.
The festival's assortment of land- and boat-based tours will provide exceptional opportunities to experience Door County's unmatched collection of lighthouses. There are four land-based tours; two are split between the northern and southern areas of the Peninsula and combine Sturgeon Bay's Sherwood Point Lighthouse, a highlight of the Lighthouse Festival and the "Ghosts!" exhibit.
 | lighthouses with signature wine-tasting events. A smaller-capacity, naturalist-narrated tour featuring all of the mainland lights also is being offered Saturday and Sunday. Most fun of all may be the Friday and Saturday evening Ghost/Mystery Tours, which leave from the Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay and tie in with the Museum's new "Ghosts! Haunted Lighthouses of the Great Lakes" exhibit.
Nationally renowned lighthouse artist Donna Elias will be on hand at the Museum during the Lighthouse Festival to sign prints and discuss her acclaimed Great American Light Collection, a series of works celebrating more than 200 historic beacons.
As far as the boat trips are concerned: The first-of-its kind tour to Plum Island has already sold out, but space is still available on the always-popular trip to the Chambers Island light and on the daylong Island Clipper tour that takes visitors past a couple of Michigan lights before stopping at Rock Island. Other tours will also be leaving Gills Rock, Baileys Harbor and Sturgeon Bay to highlight the lights and sights in those areas.
Even the annual Keeper's Kin dessert social is different this year. The Museum is staging the popular event aboard the stunning cruise boat Harbor Ladyon Friday evening for a sunset cruise past Sherwood Point Lighthouse. As always, relatives of Door County lighthouse keepers will be on board to share stories and answer questions. A Door County-themed dessert spread is part of the package.
For more information, to request a brochure and to order tickets, visit www.dcmm.org/lhw.html. You may also order tickets by calling 920-743-5958.
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Get on Board for Mystic Seaport and More! DCMM is Now Taking Reservations for Fall Tour
 The Door County Maritime Museum has announced that it is now accepting reservations for a one-of-a-kind, eight-day tour of significant East Coast historical maritime locations, including the renowned Mystic Seaport Museum.
The motor-coach tour will leave Sturgeon Bay on Thursday, October 14, and travel to Cleveland, Ohio, for a tour of the Steamship William G. Mather Museum. The William G. Mather is a retired Great Lakes bulk carrier that spent 55 years on the lakes.
The tour will arrive on the East Coast on Saturday, October 16, and will first visit the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and its museum in New London, Connecticut. That's followed by a full day at Mystic Seaport, considered the nation's finest maritime museum. Succeeding days include a trip to Boston for a journey along the historic Freedom Trail and to the U.S.S. Constitution ("Old Ironsides"); and to New York City for a day filled with stops at the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the World Trade Center site as well as the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, which is centered on the famous aircraft carrier.
Bob Desh, DCMM's executive director, will offer insight throughout the tour. After 36 years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard, Desh retired with the rank of captain. He is a maritime history buff who can provide unique perspectives on a tour that revisits a number of sites from his Coast Guard career.
The tour will return to Sturgeon Bay on October 21 and includes all transportation, lodging, admission fees, luggage handling, a tour director and 12 meals (seven breakfasts and five dinners).
Space is limited. For further information, prices and to make reservations, contact Nationwide Travelers at 920-734-5620 or 800-236-5511. Please mention Tour 11483 when calling.
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"Ghosts!" Will Open May 21 for Members, May 22 to the General Public
Since the close of the acclaimed "Freshwater Fury" exhibit, Door County Maritime Museum members, visitors and friends have been eagerly anticipating the the museum's next big show: "Ghosts! Haunted Lighthouses of the Great Lakes." The Museum has just announced that the exhibit will open a day earlier than anticipated - Friday, May 21 for members and Saturday, May 22 for the general public.
"Ghosts!" will take guests on a compelling journey through the colorful histories and legends of nine haunted Great Lakes Lighthouses: Eagle Harbor on Lake Superior; Fairport Harbor on Lake Erie; Tawas Point and Old Presque Isle on Lake Huron; Gibraltar Point on Lake Ontario; Seul Choix on Lake Michigan; and, also on Lake Michigan, Door County's own Sherwood Point, Chambers Island and Pottawatomie lights. A map will identify these and additional haunted lighthouse locations throughout the Great Lakes.
The exhibition also will explore ghosts and hauntings, the reality of alternate dimensions, human perception, psychic abilities, the different types of investigators and skeptical-inquiry perspectives.
In addition, guests may watch a presentation about Great Lakes ghost ships in the Elbapilothouse. The film/still compilation and narrative will present paranormal activity surrounding ships as apparitions, onboard hauntings and derelicts. The accounts feature Bannockburn; Roger Blough; Chicora; Eastland; Emperor; Edmund Fitzgerald; Griffon; and Prins Willem V.
The Museum also will feature a film with outtakes from Don Hermansen's "Haunted Lighthouse" series, incorporating Fred Stonehouse as narrator, interviews with credible witnesses and inside-and-out footage of haunted Great Lakes lighthouses. The film will be shown in the DCMM's intimate Horton Gallery Theater.
"Ghosts!" will provide an immersive experience courtesy of special visual and auditory effects within a mock lighthouse environment and throughout the exhibit itself. Children will delight in this; they also will enjoy the dress-up area, plasma ball, shifting scents as "haunts" come and go. Other kid-friendly activities include lighthouse word scrambles and a large puzzle.
So, welcome to "Ghosts!" We look forward to seeing you in our haunted galleries... if you dare!
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Win a Tall-Ship Passage or a Nutshell Pram in the 2010 Ports of Call Raffles!
 Two lucky raffle winners will be awarded fantastic prizes during the Door County Maritime Museum's annual Ports of Call Gala on Friday, June 25.
The tall ships are coming to Sturgeon Bay this summer, and a lucky winner will receive passage for two on one of the legendary sailing ships. The passage will take place on the morning of Thursday, August 12, departing from Sturgeon Bay and arriving in Green Bay. The winner also will receive an overnight stay in a luxurious one-bedroom suite at Stone Harbor Resort for the night of Wednesday, August 11, along with admission to the Tall Ships Festival grounds in Green Bay. Raffle tickets are $5 each or six for $25.
In a second Ports of Call raffle, the lucky winner will take home a Nutshell Pram, a 9'6" hand-crafted wooden boat with a squared-off bow. A bigger version of the original Joel White-designed nutshell, the added 2 feet increases the pram's maximum speed whether rowing or sailing. This particular pram has 55 square feet of sail area and features a lapstrake plywood hull. Mahogany inwales (inside of the gunwale, also commonly called gunnel) were added for artistic interest and functionality.
The Nutshell Pram comes complete with a trailer and a sail made by Dorsal Sails in Sturgeon Bay. This boat, donated by Bob & Doris Loss, has been lovingly stored and has never touched the water. Raffle tickets are $10 each or three for $25.
Raffle tickets are available in the Museum Stores, or you may call the Museum at 920-743-5958.
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Call for DCMM Volunteers!
Volunteers working aboard the tug John Purves. | The Door County Maritime Museum is seeking volunteer docents to lead daily tours aboard the tug John Purves. The remarkably restored 149-foot vessel has proven to be a huge hit with Museum visitors since tours began last August; however, due to the tug's appeal, the Museum is in need of additional docents to meet the seven-day-a-week schedule.
The docent script ensures easy training, and the opportunity to share a stunning piece of Sturgeon Bay maritime history makes for a gratifying experience. Volunteers are asked to sign up for a daily shift from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can work as often as they wish. If interested, please contact the Museum at 920-743-7826.
Other volunteer opportunities:
Membership Committee: We are looking for folks to serve on the committee, which spreads the word about the Door County Maritime Museum and recruits new members. Contact Membership Committee
Chairman Greg Miller at 920-743-4623 for details.
Member Docents: These volunteers would be willing to staff tables at all three museum location to explain the benefits of membership and sign up new members. Contact Membership Committee Chairman Greg Miller at 920-743-4623 for more information.
Group Tour Assistant: We are looking for one or two individuals who would be willing to assist our Group Tour Coordinator, Jon Gast, with mailings, e-mails and lead follow-up for Group Tours. Contact Jon Gast at 920-743-5958 for details.
Cana Island Light Station volunteers: We need folks to assist the Cana Island staff as docents as well as with routine lawn maintenance. Contact
Volunteer Coordinator Jon Gast at 920-743-5958.
Office Assistance: We need volunteers to help with filing and routine data entry. Call the Museum office at 920-743-5958 for details.
We need volunteers for many tasks here at the Museum! If you are interested in donating your time, please contact us, and we'll work with you to find the right opportunity!
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